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Things That Wasn't So From The Beginning (61-0120) |
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Of His days, teaching things that wasn't so. I suppose if He'd come
today, He'd find the same thing: things that wasn't so from the
beginning. If you always want to know what's truth, go back to the
beginning. Go back to Genesis, and you can take every cult and every
true from today. Just… The plants all begin in Genesis, because
Genesis is the seed chapter of the Bible. And if we want to know what
is right, go back from the beginning.
Just like I was trying to say last night, when God once makes a
statement, He can never vary from that statement. He's got to keep it
all the way through. What He said in Genesis is the same thing in
Revelation, and all the way through. He's God, and that's all. See? And
all of His Words are true.
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Now, we find out that when Jesus came, He found the teachers that had
taken the Word of God and had perverted It in to suit themselves. They
had taken the commandments of God and perverted it into a creed.
Now, remember, there's only one Creator, and all… Satan is not a
creator. What is sin? Sin is unrighteousness, and unrighteousness is
righteousness perverted.
Maybe I'll make it clearer. They're… You're a mixed congregation. You
listen to your doctor; I'm your brother. For a man to live with his
wife is righteousness. He's married to her. The same act with another
woman is death. One brings life, the other one is death. See?
Unrighteousness is righteousness perverted. What is a lie? Is the truth
misrepresented.
So that's what Jesus done. And what all of us will get into, as long as
we take and add, or take away from God's Word, it's perverting God's
Word.
So when Jesus come, He found out that they had taken God's Word and
perverted It, and made a tradition of man. And He said, "Why do you
with the–change the Word of God? By taking their traditions, and
changing the Word of God, making It say something that It really did
not say…
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We find out that He found that in His day. And He'd find it here today.
And Him, in the Presence, or in the Person of Holy Spirit, the same God
that always has been, dwelling in His people in the form of the Holy
Spirit, it witnesses out through the true believer that man perverts
God's Word to fit their creed, instead of making their creed fit God's
Word.
I want somebody to find the Apostles' Creed in the Bible, as we'd say
it today. "I believe in the Holy Roman Catholic church, the communion
of saints." Anything communes with the dead is spiritualism. "There's
only one Mediator between God and man: the Man Christ Jesus." That's
all. There's no other mediator. So anything… They pervert the things,
make an Apostles' Creed.
If the apostle had any creed, it was Acts 2:38. He–He had… That's
what they preached continually and–and pounded into the people. It was
repentance towards God and so forth. That is… If there's any creed in
the Bible, that would be it, that the apostles used.
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So they… All their leadings of the Holy Spirit stayed with the Word.
And if any man or angel ever says anything contrary to the Word,
Galatians 1:8 said, "Let him be accursed." It must be the Word of God.
Paul said, "If an angel from heaven comes to you with any other gospel
than that which you've already heard, let him be accursed." So we
believe that heavens and earth will pass away, but God's Word shall not
pass away, because the Word is God. God said that His creation will
pass away, but God cannot pass away.
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Not no place for jokes… The pulpit is no place for jokes. I think the
Word of God should be preached from here with the solemnness of the–of
the heart, and we should remember it. But just to say that… To make
this point, the old darkie, here somewhere in the South, one time made
a statement, said, "He'd rather be standing on the Word of God than
stand in the heavens." They asked him why. He said, "'Cause both heaven
and earth will pass away, but God's Word shall not." That's right. We
got to stay on the Word.
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Jesus, when He came, He said, "Moses, because of the hardness of your
heart, suffered you a divorce from your wife. But it wasn't so from the
beginning." Now, we find out they took the commandments of God and made
them of non effect.
When Jesus came, He found people looking to the church for salvation.
What did they get? Creeds. Each denomination makes up its own creed.
And then that's what He found the people depending on the church for
salvation; and they found manmade creeds.
And if He come today in Person and talked to us, He'd find the same
thing: man making the Word of God fit their denomination, giving them
creeds. And there's no salvation in a creed, if it's not the Bible.
It's got to be Bible, because His Word is… All we have need of is His
Word. And His Word, when He is the Word… The Word of God is God.
That's all. It's His Word, Hisself. He's… "In the beginning was the
Word and the Word was with God… and the Word was God." And the Word's
still God. It is still God.
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Now, we find out that when He come, He found the man then taking the
commandments of God, and making them of non effect–by taking the
commandments of God, and suiting it around to meet their creed, so it
was of non effect. And the church looked… The people looked to the
church instead of looking to God's Word. So therefore, He said, "It
wasn't so from the beginning."
We find it's the same today, as I've quoted two or three times already
this morning, and (watching that clock, it makes me nervous)… So I–I
want to say this on, that, "This is true." Then in that day as it is
now, and now as it was then, they holler out, "Where is God?"
Why, the very thing that… They've left God when they left His Word.
That's the reason we have things the way we do today, is because people
left the Word of God.
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If a doctor wrote a formula, prescription, and you added something to
it, or taken some away from it, you'd kill your patient. That's right.
You've got to keep it just the way it's wrote. There's enough antidote
there to upset the poison, enough poison to kill the germs. And too
much poison in it without the antidote would kill the patient and–and
too much antidote without the poison… What would it do? It wouldn't
help your patient. So you've got to keep it right.
And that's the way God's Word is. It's God's prescription. Yes,
brother. It's God's prescription to His people to cure every sickness,
every disease. Sin and physical, whatever it may be, it's all met in
God's Word. Amen. It's God's Word. It was so at the beginning; it was
so in the middle age; it's so in every age, and It's so this morning;
just the same as It was when He spoke It, 'cause It cannot deviate one
speck because It's God's Word.
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Then people today, no wonder they cry out: "Days of miracles is past.
There's no such a thing as Divine healing." Why do they do it? Because
they've took God's Word and made their creed wrapped up in it, and it
makes the thing wrong. And it hasn't got no power in there. If an
angel, a bishop, a archbishop, or whatever it might be come and change
one Word, it'll change the whole prescription. Let's say exactly what
It says. What God said, let's leave It right like that.
The churches is gone today. They're off on a tantrum somewhere, making
organizations, making denominations, bringing people after creeds
instead of after Christ. I don't want no creed but Christ, no law but
love, and no book but the Bible. That's exactly what we have got–God's
creed, It's God's prescription. It's God's antidote for sin. It's God's
antidote for our healing, and It's–It's God's power made manifest to
us as we take the Word in our lives.
Now, we find out that they answered on that, "Where is the God of
Moses?" The reason Moses stayed with God, and the things was, God was
following Moses' prescription… Moses was following God's Word, the
way that… Peter, James, and John hit the mark every time because that
they–they followed the Word.
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Here some time ago… Everybody knows I like targets, and shooting, and
so forth. And I had a little Model 70 Winchester. I stood out, and at
fifty yards on a target range, I drove eight bullets through the same
hole at fifty yards. And it got out a little bit adjust. You have to
fool with it and tinker with it. And I like to do that–kind of settle
my nerves. And that got out. I couldn't make it come in. I thought it
needed rebedded.
I sent it back to Winchester Company. They sent it back, and said, "Oh,
Brother Branham (or Mr. Branham)," it said, "that Winchester is one of
the best." Said, "It'll group a inch at fifty yards–at twenty-five
yards, I mean, a inch at twenty-five yards." Said, "That's the best
you'll ever get it."
I knowed different. I knowed at fifty yards I drove eight straight
tacks with it. So I knew that that was wrong. Now, that's the way…
And I couldn't rest till I got it back. Now, it'll do the same thing.
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Now, I'm not one of these people that likes to hit and splatter, "The
church says so, so just let's stay with it." If the apostles, by the
Word of God, by the commandments of God, by the same Holy Ghost that we
got, drove the tacks to Divine healing, to powers of God, if we'll stay
with it, we know it's so there, so stay till we zero it in, that's all,
for we know it did once.
How is the days of miracles have passed, and Jesus Christ the same
yesterday, today, and forever? How can that God be dead that raised
again, and alive forevermore? How can we make it to a creed, when God
has no creed? God is a Person. God dwells within His church, and you
are His church. If you've been born again, and filled with the Holy
Ghost, you are God's church. God dwells in you. You know He tabernacles
with you. When God came down, was made flesh and dwelled among us, what
did He do? He–He spread His tent amongst human beings. He–He crossed
His cast from God to man to become–that man might become like Him. Oh,
He become me, that through His grace I might become Him.
Oh, what a great thing. We'll never understand what it was. No wonder
people call out today, "Where is God?" Get back to the Word. Get back
to the beginning.
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In the beginning He said to His disciples, "Go ye into all the world
and preach the Gospel. These signs shall follow them that believe."
That was it. Get back to that same Word. It'll produce the same thing.
They followed that Word, and It zeroed in and drove a tack. Every tack,
every promise that God made was made manifest.
If we'll get back to that same Word, It'll drive the same tacks, do the
same miracles, perform the same things, make the same light, make the
same creature, raise the dead, heal the sick, cast out devils, see
visions, prophesy. It's the same Gospel that drove the tacks then. If
we'll get back to the same…
Like, get the gun back in same condition as it was at the first place,
the vibrations all out of it, it'll zero that bullet right straight.
And if we get all the vibrations of unbelief out of us, God's work will
still be like it was at the first beginning. That's exactly right.
It'll zero every time. It did once; It'll do it again. Don't be
satisfied with a creed or something. Stay right there until the Word
zeroes.
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It reminds me of the time when the mother and father, or foster father
of our Lord Jesus had taken Him up to the Pentecostal feast. And they
went three day's journey, and–and finally they missed Him. They–they
couldn't find Him.
That's the way the church has gone now. It's gone more… It's gone
about two thousand years' journey, and missed Him. Here it is. There's
signs everywhere appearing of His coming, and they say, "Where is God?
Where is God? What become of Him?"
Did you notice, Mary and Joseph searched for Him among their kinfolks,
but they found Him not? Today we go back to see if the Methodists has
got Him, the Baptists has got Him, the Presbyterians, or the Lutherans.
No, sir. They didn't find Him. Neither will we find Him today. No
matter how much we try to go back and revive some of them old dead
denominations, we'll never do it.
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Where did they find Him? Where they left Him. Hallelujah. Think I'm a
holy-roller? I guess I am. You'll find Him just like they did: where
they left Him. Where they left Him, that's where they found Him. That's
where the church will find Him.
Where did they leave Him? At the Pentecostal feast. Where will the
church find Him? Back at the Pentecostal feast, where they left Him at
when they pulled away from the doctrine of the apostles and so forth.
Back in them early ages back there, they pulled away from it and formed
their own creeds, and started the Nicolaitane doctrine, formed the
Catholic church, organized a religion of–of what's called the
Christian religion. And from there they've organized, and broke down
the things, and brought all the Christians into creeds, and so forth,
and mixed it all up till it's just the same conglomeration that He
found when He come. It's exactly.
Back to the beginning where we left Him, when He was powerful, when He
raised the dead, and healed the sick, and cast out devils; that's right
back to the beginning, where we left Him.
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You say, "Where is He? Is He with the Methodists? Is He with the
Baptists," or even, "Is He with the Pentecostal?" No, sir. Go back to
the… not Pentecostal organization, Pentecostal denominations, that's
a name. Who can organize Pentecost? Tell me. Pentecost is not an
organization. Pentecost is an experience to any believer, that's who
receive it. Back to the experience, not back to an organization, but
back to an experience. Pentecost is an experience.
Let me tell you something. You look at the fruit the Pentecostal
churches are bearing today, you'll find out they're not started from
the beginning: arguing, fussing, stewing, up-side-down, pulling for
this, and pulling for that. Jesus said in John 14, or John 15, "I am
the Vine; ye are the branches." Is that right?
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Now, you farmers, you Texans, Louisianians, and what you may be here,
any one that's got common sense, that ever seen a vine grow, knowed
that the vine does not bear fruit. The branches of the vine is what
bears fruit, but it gets its life from the vine. Jesus is our resource
of Life. Yes, sir. Now, we'll notice then if Jesus is the resource of
our Life, that's He's the true Vine. The very life that's in the vine
is in the branch. And if that vine puts forth a first branch, and that
branch is–a bunch of grapes comes forth on it. If it ever puts forth
another branch, it will be a bunch of grapes. It'll put forth another
branch, it'll be a bunch of grapes. And it'll be the same kind of
branch on to the end of the vine. O God. (Now, I need my half hour;
just getting ready…?…) Amen.
Every time that vine puts forth a branch, it'll be like the first
branch. Why? Because the life that's in the vine will put forth the
same type of branch. If the first vine brought grapes, the next won't
bring pumpkins. The next won't bring citrus fruit. And then, after
while on down like that, it won't do it.
If the true vine puts forth a branch, and if Jesus is the Branch in the
first, or, the Vine. And the first branch that brought forth, they
wrote a book of Acts after it. Is that right? The Pentecostal church,
the real Pentecostal church… And it wrote a book of Acts, with signs
and wonders following the believer. If that real true Vine brings forth
another true branch, they'll write a book of Acts behind it. Yes, sir.
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Here in Arizona not long ago, I was looking at a tree in a man's yard:
a citrus tree. It had nine different kinds of fruit on one tree. It
was… Every one of them was a different fruit. It was a orange tree to
begin with, but it had pomegranates; it had–it had lemons; it had
grapefruit, all different kinds of citrus fruit. Why? They were grafted
in there. They were living off of the life of that tree, but they could
not bring nothing but what they was. They couldn't bring oranges,
because they're a grafted vine. But every time that tree brought forth
a true branch from itself, it was an orange tree; but oranges it bore.
That's the way today. We've grafted Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian
vines into the true vine, and living off of the strength of it. But it
can't bear nothing but creeds and denominations. But if that vine ever
puts forth another branch, it'll be interdenominational, powered with
the Holy Ghost, just exactly like it was on the day of–of Pentecost.
Back to the beginning. Amen. I better quit. Amen.
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If that vine ever puts forth another branch, it'll be just like it was
at the beginning. We graft all kinds of church creeds into it: Baptist,
Methodist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist. And they every
one bear Baptist fruit, Methodist fruit, Pentecostal fruit, and
everything else. But when it comes back, if that Vine ever brings forth
another true branch, it'll bear Holy Ghost fruit. Amen. It'll…
They say, "Well, we are Methodists."
"It wasn't so from the beginning."
"We are Baptists."
"It wasn't so from the beginning."
"We are Presbyterian."
"It wasn't so from the beginning."
"We don't believe in speaking in tongues."
"It wasn't so from the beginning."
"We don't believe in Divine healing in our church."
"It wasn't so from the beginning." Hallelujah. All we need today
is…?… get back to the beginning again, back to the beginning.
Hallelujah. My time's up. Let's pray.
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Lord Jesus, oh, may I live to see the day that the church goes back to
the beginning. Grant it, Lord. Fill this little place this morning.
Unctionize this little pastor here, Lord, and these others. Give us of
Thy glory. Give us of Thy grace. Give us a meeting here, Lord.
Let us forget about other things and go back to the beginning, for we
know that our Master speaks in our hearts this morning. Get these
grafted vines away from there. Separate yourself from unbelief. Go back
to the beginning. That's where it was so. And, Lord, we what everything
so from the beginning.
Lord, let our experience, if we've never had it yet till this
morning… If there's someone setting here that's never had that
beginning Spirit experience, and got that same Spirit that poured out
on the beginning… Why should we take a substitute? Why should we take
something fanaticism? Why should we take some radical, cold, formal,
indifferent creed, when the Pentecostal skies are full of the real
genuine article? Why take a substitute?
Lord, let's go back to the beginning, and receive it like they did at
the beginning, and have the same works, signs, wonders that bears the
same fruit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, meekness,
gentleness, patience. God grant it. Hear us, Father, for we commit this
little church and this revival to You in Your hands. In the Name of
Jesus Christ. Amen.
E-20 God bless you. I hate to have to run, but it's after eleven now. I'll see you tonight.
